Three Princesses

Learning and using OmegaT translation software lately, and I thought I might start sharing some of my sample Chinese to English pieces. This is the first one. It’s quite simple, but I like the story a lot. I also have other pieces dealing with genomic science and Chinese Traditional Medicine (CTM) coming up soon.

Translated version
A long time ago, there was an Emperor who ruled his kingdom well. Although his
kingdom was not so large, his subjects were well-fed, elegantly dressed, and everyone
led happy lives. The Emperor had three lovely princesses. Each princess was empowered with a
special form of magic. When they cried, their tears would shed as usual, but would be
magically transformed into priceless, sparkling, dolphin-shaped diamonds.

One day, the aging king, came to realize that he had not yet found anyone to take care of his beloved princesses and eventually become the heirs of his kingdom. He considered his situation carefully, and decided to call together a meeting at the Palace grounds near the Temple. This was what he had to say.

“As everyone knows, I have three princesses. Each with unparalleled beauty, and each
having a special form of magic, where they can turn their tears into exquisite and expensive diamonds. A month later, I will gather all good men from the nearby kingdoms to my Palace, and let each princess choose the one their future prince! The chosen princes will have then be given the opportunity to inherit my fortune and kingdom!”

A month later, the Emperor gathered princes, sons of knights, and sons of wealthy families from all parts of the world. Some were handsome, and some were very elegant, but each and everyone of them, gave off a unique and special presence and aura within the walls of the Palace.

They gathered and ﬁlled the Imperial Palace, awaiting the arrival of the kings daughters. The Emperor arrived at noon, followed by the three princesses. He had prepared a elaborate welcoming ceremony which included song and dance, performed by the local subjects. The voice of the singers produced pure and lovely sounds that inspired the image of butterﬂies and gentle river streams. The youngest princess, although pleased and smiling but also excited about the presence of such a large group of people, hid coyly behind the Emperor. The Emperor felt awkward about explaining the youngest princess’ behavior, but explained to the esteemed guests that they should not be bothered by her shyness.

In order to win the favor of the princesses, the relatives of the princes had brought and offered gifts that revealed their region’s uniqueness. The eldest princess was offered paintings and presented with poetry recitals, written on the spot, using beautiful calligraphy. These were offered to the eldest princess. To add to the excitement, the
second princess was presented with a fencing duel demonstration, along with a performance that showcased equestrian skills. The youngest of the princesses was offered unique and rare gifts that came from far, far away. Both the eldest and second princess were very happy and impressed by the performances. They gradually decided on their future prince. The youngest princess, however, remained calmly hidden behind her father’s protection.

The eldest princess ﬁnally made a decision and chose her prince. This handsome prince openly made the promise that he would conquer and engrave her name on the Palaces of every kingdom. The second princess chose a rich and powerful prince. This prince, being extremely clever at business, guaranteed her to build a fortune that would
allow him to build a gorgeous and elaborate Palace. The inside would be adorned with rare and beautiful decorative art. The youngest princess remained tranquil in the backdrop, while shaking her head in disapproval.

While the Emperor was preparing to give a formal declaration on the outcome of this great event, a young shepherd among the crowd, moved around the crowd and headed towards the youngest princess. He had something to tell her. As he discretely whispered something in her ear, she burst out with sweet laughter, and without
hesitation, took his hand.

So it is in this manner that the three princesses had been matched. The eldest princess shed tears to help enrich her prince. This helped him gather troops and then campaign a ﬁght and take hold of other Palaces. He maintained his promise
and really did carve her name into each castle wall that he took possession of. It is in this manner that the eldest princess’ name became well known to everyone in all parts of the world. The second princess’ prince used the diamonds that she produced to create more business and more wealth. She had shed so many tears, that in the end no diamonds were need to produce wealth. Her prince really proved to everyone that he had a talent for doing business. He used the wealth produced from selling the diamonds that she had shed, and with them generated more wealth. With the large sums of wealth accumulated, he built the most luxurious palace ever. She felt that she
was very fortunate and lucky.

The youngest of the princesses left the Emperor’s Palace and traveled the world over. The shepherd and her, settled down in an idyllic area, surrounded by lush green hills, beautiful ﬂowers, and ﬂowing, clear-water rivers. The shepherd spent an arduous month wilting wood and using rice straw to build a large house. He also built many pieces of
furniture. With their own hands, they then planted many kinds of vegetables and built a fence that surrounded their ﬁeld. The youngest princess would visit the surrounding hills and pick what she considered to be the most beautiful ﬂowers. She would then plant them in the garden near their house. Although she did not quite know the names
of each and every ﬂower, she was very happy. As the night would approach, they would either go ﬁshing at the lake nearby or sit on a hilltop, counting and gazing at the stars. They were not that rich, they were very happy and satisfied. Although she had been quiet and reserved, when around her sisters, her life with the shepherd gave her happiness and she would go on incessantly, talking about everything she saw from the special sparkle of a star, the grace and beauty of the butterﬂy, the number of morning dew drops on her ﬂowers, the special feeling when dusk came by. She just talked and talked with clever and cute remarks on all she felt and saw. The shepherd, sitting by the lake ﬁshing, would listen intently to the little princess’ stories. She would tell her stories and talk until she would fall asleep. The shepherd would then carry her back home and gently lay her down on their bed. The Emperor eventually became sick and called back the three princesses, along with their husbands. The Emperor was surprised to see that the little princess’ husband, although cleanly dressed, but with clothing that had been mended and patched, had not provided her with wealth and riches like the other two princesses.

The Emperor addressing the little princess, had wanted to know why she had not used her magic to shed at least one tear and produce a diamond that would provide, both her and the shepherd, with enough wealth to at least do business with textiles and perhaps open a shop. The shepherd responded that he had no purpose or intention to ever
make her cry. The Emperor immediately proposed to offer his title as the Emperor to the shepherd.

Although everyone has their own idea of what it means to be blessed and happy, it is generally accepted that there is no one simple universal way to attain this happiness. The shepherd was the only one who understood what it meant to cherish and value his loved one. The most precious tears are not the ones that can be transformed into diamonds, but rather the tears held back. The ones that do not drop and fall to the ground, are the result of a person who truly cherishes you and does not want to make you cry.

Please use your best handwriting to write down the name of the person whom you cherish the most, and have a happy life of eternal bliss together. The person who loves you and the person you love, will be happy forever!